Lateral potential energy surfaces for molecular chemisorption on metals from experiment and theory: NO on Pt{110}-(1x2)

The suppression of diffusion of chemisorbed species at very low temperatures is exploited, using infrared spectroscopy, to determine local minima and diffusion barriers in the lateral potential energy surface for adsorption. These are compared with results from density functional theory slab calculations. This methodology provides the first detailed lateral potential energy surface for the chemisorption of NO, on Pt{110}-(1 x 2). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.